Royal appointment for one of the greats of the British stage

The actor has taken many roles on stage and screen and people are bound to identify him. Some, although he is too modest to admit it, may even be starstruck to meet him. He knows how they feel.

"I was doing some filming with Emmerdale and I went into my dressing room and in walked Freddie Jones," says Costigan.

"I just thought, 'Oh my god, that's Freddie Jones'. It doesn't happen very much, but I was totally starstruck. In the industry he is seriously well respected. This is the guy who has made four movies with David Lynch," adds Costigan.

The stint on Emmerdale came after Costigan had been on stage in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman at York Theatre Royal. He won high praise for his intense portrayal of Willy Loman in Damian Cruden's production.

After getting to grips with the sense of being starstruck and talking to Freddie Jones at length about some of the people with whom he had worked, Costigan and Jones got on to the subject of theatre – a real passion for both.

"For whatever reason, I asked if he had ever played King Lear, and he told me how there was a BBC thing and he came close, but it never happened.

"He's 82 now and he just doesn't have the physical gas to get through a performance like that. It just struck me as incredibly sad that he wouldn't get to do it and we wouldn't get to see him do it."

Costigan contacted a producer and radio director friend at the BBC and floated the idea of doing a recording of the play.

"I asked Freddie in the canteen one day if he would be up for it if I could arrange it and he just sort of said 'yes, yes' not thinking I had any intention or way of getting it done," says Costigan.

What made him realise it was going to be a possibility was when he rang his old friend, Nicholas Le Provot, who jumped on board – as did Niamh Cusak and David Neilsen and all the other actors he approached.

"As soon as I said it was for Freddie, they all said, 'Great, I'll be there, when is it? It was a wonderful testament to him," says Costigan.

Thanks to the relationship Costigan had built up with York Theatre Royal, he also had a venue – and a venue which was looking for a little help. Artistic director Damian Cruden suggested the recording of this version of King Lear be performed as a charity event in York, to help to raise money for a project to make the theatre's De Grey Rooms accessible to people with disabilities.

The performance is being held on Sunday.

Costigan says: "It might be a little strange for people to see what is basically a rehearsed reading, but I think they will also see it as a rare chance to experience something like this and to see one of the greatest plays in the English language performed by a fantastic cast."

Another familiar name among the cast is the man playing the Fool, Toby Jones. The son of Freddie and one of Britain's finest character actors, he starred in the film Infamous, as well as supporting roles in George Bush biopic, W, and in Frost/Nixon.

Jones, who appeared "for about half a second" on screen with his father in the film, Ladies in Lavender, has been able to find time in a hectic filming schedule to appear on stage with him

in York.

"It's been very moving for me to see all this happening, and I think it's a great tribute to George for bringing everyone together like this," says Toby Jones.

"I'm trying not to think about it too much, because it gets too emotional. I doubted it was actually going to happen but it's going to be wonderful to be on stage acting with dad."

Jones has played the part of the Fool in the play before, but that was at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, in Leeds, and Warren Mitchell was Lear.

"The whole play is about relationships between parents and children and the King and the Fool have a very interesting relationship, so it's going to be interesting to be a part of that with my dad," says Jones.

"I'm actually just really looking forward to seeing my dad do this – he is a wonderful reader of verse; he, can recite whole tracts of Shakespeare and verse.

"I think the whole thing is going to be quite magical."

The reading takes place at York Theatre Royal, on Sunday, 6pm. Tickets on 01904 623568.